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New car launches drive domestic auto sales in Q1 – Business Today


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The growth momentum in the domestic automobile industry continued for the April to June quarter of FY25 despite general elections and scorching heatwave. Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest passenger vehicle manufacturer, recorded the highest-ever quarterly sales of 5,21 868 units, witnessing a 4.7% year-on-year growth against 5,21,868 units in the June quarter of FY25. 

“This increase is coming from the launch of new models from the competition, that is how the market is behaving,” says Partho Banerjee, Senior Executive Officer–Marketing and Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Limited at a press briefing on Monday. For the month of June, the manufacturer of Grand Vitara and Fronx sold 1,37,160 units in the domestic market, up 3.1% YoY, as against 1,33,027 units in the same period last year. Banerjee, however,  anticipates muted growth for the passenger vehicle segment for FY25. 

Notably, while the passenger vehicle sales maintained growth momentum, the small car sales remained sluggish for the quarter under review. In the June quarter of FY25, Maruti Suzuki sold 2,22,193 units of passenger cars, witnessing a 12.8% year-on-year decline against 2,54,973 units in the same period last year. 

In order to drive sales for its passenger car portfolio, Maruti Suzuki, which leads the passenger car segment, launched a limited Dream series edition for small cars such as Celerio, Alto K10 and S-Presso, while offering discounts on select models, including Jimny. According to Banerjee, the company has so far witnessed a 17% increase in bookings following the launch of the series. Due to the series’s popularity, Maruti Suzuki has extended the series for July. 

In terms of exports, Maruti Suzuki recorded the highest exports, 70,560 units, against 63,218 units in the same period last year. “The fire test of global competitiveness in technology, quality, cost and performance is in exports. Customers in India are also likely to choose models that they know are customers’ favourites across many world countries. Maruti Suzuki contributes about 42% of all car exports from India,” says Rahul Bharti, Executive Officer, Corporate Affairs, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. 

Notably, as the industry grapples with high inventory levels of as much as 60 to 90 days, Maruti Suzuki’s stock is at 37 to 38 days across the country. “Maruti Suzuki has a network stock of 37 to 38 days nationwide. Generally, one month stock is a very good number, but keeping in mind the number of variants plus some new models, plus we are introducing many limited editions, so we are having a stock of 37 to 38 days,” says Banerjee.  “Stocks are little high as compared to the norm, but they’re almost within the standard norms,” he adds. 

Meanwhile, Mahindra and Mahindra, the country’s largest utility vehicle (UV) manufacturer) reported a 23% increase in sales in June to 40,022 units, as against 32,588 units in the same period last year. “We sold a total of 40,022 SUVs in June, a growth of 23% and 69,397 total vehicles, a 11% growth over last year. June has been a momentous month, as we rolled out the 200,000th XUV700 from our facility. We also celebrated 25 years of Bolero Pik-Ups, a category creator and a market leader in the LCV segment,” says Veejay Nakra, President of the Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra. 

IPO-bound Hyundai Motor India Ltd also witnessed a 5.68% increase in domestic sales in the first six months of 2024. The company, however, witnessed a decline of 1.22% in domestic sales to 64,803 units in June, as against 65,601 units in the same period last year. 

“We closed H1 of calendar year 2024 with an overall sales growth of 5.68 per cent year-on-year. SUVs have contributed strongly, accounting for 66 per cent of our domestic sales. The new Hyundai CRETA has been a key driver for domestic H1 sales with 91,348 units sold, a growth of 11 per cent over the same period last year,” says Tarun Garg, COO, Hyundai Motor India.

While the domestic sales of Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki witnessed growth, the domestic sales marginally declined for Tata Motors. The manufacturer of Nexon witnessed a 1% decline in sales in Q1 to 1,38,682 units, as against 1,40,450 units in the same period last year, owing to general elections and heatwave. 

“Going forward, we foresee recovery of demand, as enquiries have remained strong despite low retails in the past two months. This strong enquiry pipeline, in addition to onset of the festive season from August, augurs well for the industry. Tata Motors is fully geared up to leverage this growth opportunity on the back of strong demand for its SUV portfolio, especially Punch and Nexon, as well as new launches in the coming months,” says Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd. 

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